Understanding Online / Batch Loaders

Online / Batch Loaders enable the quick loading of data into the system. Data can be loaded for any business object as it uses the business object's schema to load data into the application.

Note: We recommend that this process not be used to load data for objects maintained through merged maintenance, such as Service Type, Unit of Measure, Service Quantity Identifier, Time of Use, Service Point Type, or Service Point as this process may not properly populate data for all maintenance objects supported by merged maintenance.

Two types of loaders are supported:

  • Online Loaders easily upload smaller amounts of data. Use this type of upload process when uploading small numbers of records or data for business objects without complex lifecycles and business object rules such as Organizations. The data is loaded through the user interface to create the target objects.

  • Batch Loaders should be used for larger volumes of data and for complex business objects such as Assets. Batch loaders load data from files on the server or attachments. Batch loaders use a two-step process that first creates the inbound sync request and uploads the file to a staging table and secondly, uploads the sync request from the staging table to either create the target objects or create another dedicated inbound sync request that handles the complexity of a particular object.

Processing uses the creation of a request type to facilitate the upload process:

  • For online request types, the actual data is stored within and processed by the request.

  • For batch request types, two options for batch load are supported; from a file located on the server or from an attachment in the application. Either the file name (file on server) or the attachment id (attachments) is stored on the request, the data is loaded into the generic inbound sync requests, and the request acts as a header record for all the generic inbound sync requests.

A csv file is the format used for loading data (see Creating CSV Files, below). The loader has very strict requirements as to the format of the file. Please see the embedded help in the Data section on the Online Loader Request business object for details and additional tips.